title: Crack patterns in desiccating clay-polymer mixtures with varying composition.
abstract: Crack patterns in desiccating clay suspensions are drastically altered by the addition of polymers. In this paper we report a systematic study of the effect of varying the composition of a clay-polymer composite on the formation of crack patterns. Experiments as well as computer simulations have been done. Details of the morphology and fractal dimension of the experimental patterns are observed and the simulation is done on a two-dimensional spring network model. We find a transition from a completely fragmented fractal pattern at high clay content to a continuous film at about 50% clay content. The results of the simulation are in good qualitative agreement with the experiments. The study is expected to be of importance for clay-polymer composites. These can be designed to give improved mechanical and electrical properties for practical applications.
authors.affiliation: Condensed Matter Physics Research Center, Physics Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata 700032, India.
authors.forename: Soma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nag
authors.forename: Suparna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sinha
authors.forename: Supti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadhukhan
authors.forename: Tapati
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.forename: Sujata
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tarafdar